Limoncello

Bestow bottles of this lemon-tinged libation on the liqueur connoisseurs in your life and get ready to win gift giver of the year! Just make sure to start your batch a month and a half before you need it. After all, you can’t rush love… or limoncello.

Chocolate Truffles

Gift Alton's rich truffles this season and be prepared to ward off plenty of requests for the recipe. He spikes chocolate ganache with brandy and rolls the truffles in cocoa powder, chopped nuts or toasted coconut.

Candy Cane-Kissed Peppermint Patties

These peppermint cream and chocolate cookie sandwiches would already be festive, bearing the season's favorite flavor pairing, but a half-moon hat of chocolate-mint cream and crushed peppermint makes them downright iconic.

Gingerbread Cookie Mix Gift Jar

Bestow this simple-to-make cookie mix on friends and family so that they can bake, bake as fast as they can… to catch themselves a gingerbread man. Add a bit of extra charm by packaging the mix in glass jars and attaching a cookie cutter with string.

Cranberry Almond Chocolate Bars

These chocolate bars can be pulled together quickly after raiding your pantry for sweet, salty and nutty ingredients. All you need are slivered almonds, chocolate morsels, dried cranberries and a pinch of tangerine or orange zest.

Porchetta Rub Kit

Ideal for the amateur butcher or pork lover, this kit has everything needed to roast like a Tuscan. Take it up a notch by including a set of nice wooden salt and pepper grinders, or a small jar of fennel pollen (bought online).

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Brighten up a cold Christmas day by gifting these fluffy crimson sandwich cookies to friends and family. The combination of subtle cocoa cookies and a sweet cream cheese filling is always a crowd-pleaser, especially in palm-sized portions.

Chile-Cinnamon Brittle with Mixed Nuts

Rachael roasts almonds, hazelnuts and peanuts to really develop their individual flavors before preparing this brittle. A bit of chile powder and cinnamon add heat and spice, and she limits the amount of sugar used, to render a truly savory brittle.

Holiday Mulling Spices

Red Velvet Twinks

This Christmas-ready recipe re-makes the famous snack cake with a southern twist. Goat cheese adds a nice tang to the traditional cream cheese filling, while a dip in shredded coconut makes for a pretty presentation.

Chocolate-Espresso Morning Buzz Granola

Give your granola a jolt with chopped, chocolate-covered espresso beans. Play up the theme by giving it in small brown paper bags or coffee bags. If you prefer a decaf version, adjust the brown sugar to taste  reduce by a tablespoon or two  before baking.

Peanut Butter Fudge

Alton's easy fudge recipe circumvents the stove-top entirely; the peanut butter gets warmed in a microwave. After that, a quick mix with butter, vanilla and powdered sugar leads to perfectly smooth fudge that you'll want to keep all to yourself.

Cashew Nut Brittle

Preserved Lemons

Turn the everyday into the exotic with a gift that's sure to intrigue and inspire. Preserved lemons, with their intense lemony tang, are the key ingredient to many Moroccan specialties like tagines, and pair well with olives, artichokes, chicken or fish.

Thai Bird Vodka

You know your buddy who can't get enough hot sauce in his Bloody Mary at brunch? This vodka infusion is for him. It's not only stunning with floating Thai bird chiles and whole peppercorns, but it also gets hotter every day. Let it sit for at least a week for intense heat.

Pine Nut Brittle

Juniper Mop Sauce

If you have a lot of barbecue lovers in your life, double, triple or even quadruple this recipe. The tangy, punchy and perfectly balanced juniper-coriander mop laced with gin and juice is perfect for slathering on just about anything.

Chocolate Fudge

No marshmallow fluff here; this recipe boils down evaporated milk until it's just the right consistency to blend with high-quality chocolate. The result is a less sweet, but more intense, chocolate flavor.

Vanilla Almonds

Schiacciata Alla Fiorentina

This unbelievably easy Florentine orange cake from Debi and Gabriele is traditionally made in Italy around Easter, but bright citrus sweets are welcome in the dead of winter –– when oranges are, in fact, best.